


When Dawn Breaks

by keyboardclicks



Category: The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, au where henry doesn't fuck everything up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 13:23:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9442511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyboardclicks/pseuds/keyboardclicks
Summary: Basil wakes to find Dorian asleep in his bed and to the knowledge that the wonderful pleasure of last night was not some hazy dream.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU where Basil confesses his feelings to Dorian before Dorian ever meets Henry. I just wanted to write something happy for these two because they're both tragic and I love them.

He was terrified to move, almost even to breathe.It felt as though one movement, however minuscule, would cut the invisible strings holding the world together and should he so much as blink everything would come crashing down around him.

White sunlight filtered in through the partially drawn curtains.The windows were each closed but just a glance could tell anyone how lovely the day ahead was sure to be.Even through the glass Basil Hallward could hear birds singing as they flittered around from branch to branch.On a normal day he would have perhaps eaten his breakfast outside in the garden, enjoying the sun and the scents of the many flowers before it became unbearably hot as it always did in the afternoon this time of year.He would have painted, using every moment of natural light to his advantage, and been satisfied or even pleased with his work.But today was unlike any other day.

Barely breathing, Basil gazed at the back of the sleeping form beside him in the bed.The memories had all come back at once after the haze of sleep had worn off; Basil knew to whom the figure belonged.With its flawless, pale skin and curls of soft, golden hair there was nobody else it could have been.

Dorian Gray moved with each breath, undisturbed and unaware that morning had yet broken.Basil could not see his face but he could imagine it; eyes closed, cheeks with the faintest dusting of pink, rose petal lips parted ever so slightly so that the boy could take his soft, even breaths, and golden curls falling against his forehead, begging to be brushed away by a soft and caring hand.

Basil wanted to more than anything; he longed for the soft touch of Dorian’s warm skin below his fingers.He longed to take him, to touch him, to kiss every inch of him in worship as he had last night when he had been unable to deny himself any longer.But he did not move, for he could not dare to face the reality of the morning.

 _I’ve ruined him,_ thought Hallward in anguish. _Oh dear God, I’ve ruined him!Dorian, perfect creature, I’ve dragged you into sin with me!_

Tears stung his eyes and a knot formed in his throat, feeling nothing but anguish at the knowledge that he alone had tainted one of Earth’s few perfections.Basil swallowed his emotions down, did not let tears fall or pained cries leave his throat.He watched Dorian shift in his sleep, the blanket falling further down his sleeping figure to lay on his waist and expose the skin of his lower back.Basil thought back to the night, thought of how he had confessed to Dorian, not knowing why he did so, and how Dorian had not turned away in disgust but grabbed Basil’s hand in concern and looked at him with innocent curiosity.He remembered kissing him for the first time, holding Dorian’s face in both hands with the care one might use to handle a rare and delicate flower.He thought of how Dorian had kissed _him_ next, face wondrous, actions eager. _Yes, Basil, tell me, show me, I want to know._

He thought of how fortunate it was that Parker had suddenly and urgently been called away due to the declining health of his elderly mother so that there was no chance of him coming in and seeing two sets of clothes at the foot of the bed and the sleeping, naked form of Dorian Gray beneath the covers.

 _I’ve ruined you_ , he thought again. _Dorian, oh I’m so sorry, Dorian…_

The light creeping in through the curtains had moved as the sun continued to rise.A bright streak now lay directly over Dorian’s face, stirring him into consciousness.He made a few soft noises that one might make when waking, then gave a long and contented yawn.Basil felt even his heart now stop as he prepared himself to face the consequences of his selfish, indulgent actions.  He even said a silent prayer to God above, hoping it was not in vain.

“Basil,” said Dorian without turning around.His voice was still low and sleepy.“Are you awake?”

“Y-yes,” Basil croaked.

Dorian shifted.Basil held his breath as the boy turned onto his stomach, then opposite side, tossing hair from his face and giving a bright, sleepy smile.

“Good morning,” he said.

Basil stared, looking for the smallest hint of deformity, of wrongness.He looked for any evidence of passion, of sin, but could find nothing.Dorian’s eyes were still their clear and brilliant blue, his hair messy from sleep but still perfectly golden, his skin was soft and unlined, cheeks dusted with blush and his lips still perfectly pink and inviting him for another kiss.  For a moment, though, Basil saw the boy not as he was then, but as he had been last night; eyes half-lidded in dazed pleasure, flushed skin from his face down to his stomach, mouth open and panting...

“Basil?”He suddenly frowned, brow creasing in concern.“You look as if you’re about to cry!Is something wrong?”

Dorian reached forward, running one hand softly along Basil’s cheek as he again swallowed the knot of tears in his throat.Basil clasped the hand in his own and brought it to his lips, kissing the palm.

“Oh Dorian,” he nearly cried.“I was afraid I’d ruined you, oh God forgive me I thought…”He drew a shaky breath.Dorian continued to look confused.“Oh but of course you’re forgiven, it was me who dragged you into this!I couldn’t resist you, Dorian, I was so selfish!”A thought suddenly struck Basil-a thought of how carnal he had been that night, feverish with kisses and touching-and he buried his face in his hands.“Everything is my doing of course, how terrible I must seem!”

“Basil,” Dorian almost laughed, reaching for his companion’s hands and pulling them from his face.“I don’t know what you’re talking about but don’t act so upset.You look perfectly well and aren’t you happy?  After the things you said last night I thought you would be...”

Basil blushed deep red, and the pink tinge on Dorian's cheeks grew just slightly darker.  His fingers combed gently through Basil's hair, soothing him.

“You’re bit bed-tousled, and perhaps you didn’t get as much sleep as you should have, but other than that you’re as handsome as the day I met you,” Dorian assured.“Why are you worrying so much?”

A million thoughts ran through Basil’s mind in that moment.He had believed for many years, it was impossible to recall exactly how many, that sin was undoubtedly something which wrote itself out on the face of the sinner.A terrible person would have an equally terrible appearance, and a wonderful person would have beauty to match.It was how he knew Dorian’s soul itself was good and pure and untainted.It was how he knew that Harry was hardly as terrible as he liked to pretend; nobody as handsome as he could truly be a bad person.If there was no change in Dorian’s beauty, nor in his own looks, did that mean they had not sinned?Did it mean that their union, as wonderful and pleasurable as it had been, was not a defiant act in the face of God?Basil didn’t know.He felt that the world was spinning.

“You’re thinking far too much for this early in the day,” Dorian teased, pulling him from the spiral of his own thoughts and poking teasingly at Basil’s temple.“There’s no use in thinking so much before breakfast.”

Basil smiled, almost laughed even!Tentative, shy, he leaned forward and placed the softest of kisses on Dorian’s perfect pink mouth, the nauseating dread being replaced by a blooming happiness in his chest.Dorian kissed in return, shifting his body close to Basil’s and letting himself be held in the other man’s possessive but gentle grasp.Basil drank in every sensation of being there, in that very moment.He inhaled Dorian’s golden, scented hair, slid his hands over the soft velvet skin, delighting in the boy’s perfect, marble-cut body.

“You were lovely last night, Basil,” Dorian admitted shyly, almost whispered.A hand trailed lightly down Basil’s arm, then pressed against his chest.“I’d no idea…”

“I didn’t hurt you at all?” the other mumbled.He had been so careful not to bruise or scratch or otherwise mar his lover’s flawless skin, but the mere possibility of harming his darling muse still created another knot of anxiety in the artist’s stomach.

“No, not a bit,” Dorian assured.“I was worried, though…Worried that I would regret this in the morning…”

The dread returned.Basil moved slightly away to look at Dorian’s soft and gentle face.“Do you, Dorian?” he asked nervously.“Do you regret it?”

But the boy only beamed at him, shaking his curly head.“Not at all, not at all!In fact, I think I’m rather happy to be with you in this way.To know how you feel, that you _love_ me-“

“I do.”The words left Basil’s mouth before Dorian could even finish his sentence.“I do, Dorian, oh God knows I do.I always have, since the day we met.”

Dorian’s laugh was boyish and bubbly, shaking his entire frame as he pressed a kiss to Basil’s lips, then more to his cheeks and jaw.With each delicate slide of his lips Basil felt that he may simply burst from joy, part of him still unwilling to believe that this was all truly real.They shared another long, lingering kiss and an equally long and loving gaze.Basil thought again of his fears, of the threat of sin and ruin and damnation.But how could affection be damned?How could his love for Dorian be a sin?This was not the buying and taking of some poor, corrupted boy in a London ally, he _loved_ Dorian!Loved him with every bit of affection in his heart!Perhaps that was why he saw no trace of misdeed upon the youth’s face, and why there was equally nothing wrong with his own appearance.Perhaps it was that love which saved them.

“I think I’m becoming rather attached to your bed,” Dorian smiled, pulling the blankets up to his shoulders.“I’m rather disinclined to leave it.”

Basil laughed, deciding to put away all thoughts of sin and wrongness and enjoy the morning, so much more beautiful when spent next to his beloved.“I’m rather fond of staying here, as well, but I’m afraid we must rise.There’s no Parker to bring us breakfast.”

“Thank God,” Dorian laughed.Basil did, too.

“What do you say to breakfast in town?” he then asked.“Then perhaps a stroll through the park?”

“A lovely idea,” agreed Dorian Gray.“But what am I to wear?I suppose I could go back to my house first…”

“I’m sure something of mine will fit you,” Basil assured.“Perhaps your own trousers and we can rifle through my shirts to find something that suits you.”He smiled, kissing the younger boy’s brow.“Then again, everything suits you.”

“I do think you like me best in nothing,” he teased.Basil blushed, almost stammering out an objection that both men knew was false.With an insolent, boyish smile, Dorian rolled his body to lay atop that of his new lover, kissing his chest and refusing then to rise.They remained like this for the rest of the morning, each man content and loving the feeling of the other in his arms.Breakfast plans became lunch, and those who recognized them during their afternoon walk thought that they had never seen Basil Hallward look so happy, nor Dorian Gray look quite as radiant as he did on the other man’s arm.


End file.
